1. Field of the Disclosure
The present subject matter relates to systems and methods for processing and collecting blood, blood constituents, or other suspensions of cellular material. More particularly, the present subject matter relates to automatic control and adjustment of blood separation procedure parameters during processing.
2. Description of Related Art
Today it is routine to separate whole blood, usually by centrifugation, into its various therapeutic components, such as red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.
Conventional blood processing methods use durable centrifuge equipment in association with single use, sterile fluid circuits or processing systems, typically made of plastic. The operator installs a fresh, sterile disposable system in the centrifuge before processing and removes it afterwards and discards it.
With a disposable system loaded onto the centrifuge (or just prior to or during loading) the operator typically enters, for example, by means of a touch screen or other user interface system, a particular processing protocol to be executed by the system (e.g., a procedure wherein platelets are separated from whole blood and collected) and other parameters (e.g., the weight of the donor, the desired volume of separated blood component to be collected, etc.). When the system has been programmed, the operator phlebotomizes a donor and the system carries out the procedure, under the supervision of the operator.
During processing, events may occur that compromise the procedure or the quality of the separated and collected blood component(s). One common occurrence is platelet aggregation where, during platelet collection procedures, platelets begin to stick to each other and become aggregated in the centrifuge. Known systems and protocols are not adequately suited to diagnose and counteract or preemptively avoid such platelet aggregation. Some systems allow for operator intervention, but it can be difficult for an operator to diagnose and/or predict platelet aggregation and, even when the operator can do so, it may still be difficult to properly adjust the process parameters so as to avoid platelet aggregation. The need therefore exists for automated blood processing controllers that can automatically prevent platelet aggregation, without the need for operator intervention.